GISDATA.congressional_distr_108_100k

Frequently-asked questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title:
GISDATA.congressional_distr_108_100k

Abstract:
This data set portrays the Congressional Districts of the United States for the 108th Congress.  Lines coincident with Congressional District boundaries were extracted from the existing National Atlas County Boundaries layer.  In areas lacking coincident geometry, lines from State data sets or from an Election Data Services data set were integrated into the file.  This is an update of the January, 2003 data set.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Geological Survey, 20030326, GISDATA.congressional_distr_108_100k.

    Online links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    Bounding coordinates:
    West: -109.050175
    East: -64.566162
    North: 49.380558
    South: 17.674694

  3. What does it look like?

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Calendar date: 20030226
    Currentness reference:
    ground condition

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial data presentation form: vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-polygon (5781)

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.000000. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000000. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257224.

      Vertical coordinate system definition:
      Altitude system definition:
      Altitude resolution: 1.000000
      Altitude encoding method: Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    GISDATA.congressional_distr_108_100k
    Legislatively defined subdivisions of a State for the purpose of electing representatives or delegates to the House of Representatives of the United States Congress.
    (Source:
    National Institute of Standards and Technology
    )

    OBJECTID
    Internal feature number.
    (Source:
    ESRI
    )

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    GISDATA.congressional_distr_108_100k.AREA
    Feature geometry.
    (Source:
    ESRI
    )

    Coordinates defining the features.

    PERIMETER
    The perimeter of the shape in coverage units.
    (Source:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    )

    CGD108P020
    Internal feature number
    (Source:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    )

    CONG_DIST
    Internal feature number
    (Source:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    )

    NAME
    The full name and party affiliation of the Congressional Representative elected from the Congressional District.  Examples: Don Young (R);Jim McDermott (D); Bernard Sanders (I).  For the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the full name and party affiliation of the Congressional delegate.
    (Source:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    )

    PARTY_AFF
    The single-character abbreviation of the political party with which the Congressional Representative is affiliated.
    (Source:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    )

    URL
    The Url or Uniform Resource Locator is the address of a page on the World Wide Web.  The address, which provides the basis for establishing an electronic link from a client to the physical location of the page on an Internet server, consists of a server name, file path, and the page's file name.  The Url in this data set is the address of a given representative's page on the World Wide Web.  Example: <http://www.house.gov/toomey/>
    (Source:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    )

    STATE
    The 2-character FIPS code of the State or State equivalent.
    (Source:
    U.S. Geological Survey, Guidelines for Presenting USGS Data and
    )

    STATE_FIPS
    The 2-character FIPS code of the State or State equivalent.
    (Source:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    )

    SHAPE
    The representation of the entity in the data.
    (Source:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    )

    Coordinates defining the features.

    SHAPE.AREA
    SHAPE.LEN
Back to Top

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)


  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    U.S. Geological Survey

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Brandon L. League
    NBII-SAIN
    314 Conference Center Building
    Knoxville, TN 37996
    USA

    865-974-9665 (voice)
Back to Top

Why was the data set created?

These data are intended for geographic display and analysis at the national level, and for large regional areas.  The data should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:2,000,000-scale data. No responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data.

Back to Top

How was the data set created?

  1. Where did the data come from?

    (source 1 of 1)

    United States Geological Survey, 200303, Congressional Districts of the United States - 108th Congress: United States Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online links:
    Type of source media: online

  2. What changes have been made?

    (change 1 of 4)
    The spatial features of the National Atlas county boundaries layer (ATLAS-CNTY01) were compared against the State data sets and the Election Data Services data set to identify lines that were part of Congressional District boundaries.  These lines were placed in a new file.  In areas where there were no existing National Atlas features that were coincident with the Congressional District boundaries, the boundaries from the State data sets or the Election Data Services data set were extracted and added to the file.  The list of members was updated with information for the 108th Congress from CD01_108. 
    
    Additionally, the dataset was "clipped" to the southern and eastern states with ESRI ArcMap 8.2.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • S:\Team\Brandon\108th_congress\cgd108p020

    (change 2 of 4)
    Dataset copied.

    (change 3 of 4)
    Metadata imported.

    Data sources used in this process:
    • C:\WorkSpace\congress.xml

    (change 4 of 4)
    Dataset copied.

Back to Top

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

Back to Top

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access constraints: None
Use constraints:
None. Acknowledgment of the National Atlas of the United States of America and (or) the U.S. Geological Survey would be appreciated in products derived from these data.

Distributor 1 of 1

  1. Who distributes the data set?

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

  4. How can I download or order the data?

    • Availability in digital form:


    • Data format:
      Size: 18.938

  5. Is there some other way to get the data?

  6. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

Back to Top

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 20040412

Metadata author:
Brandon L. League
NBII-SAIN
314 Conference Center Building
Knoxville, TN 37996
USA

865-974-9665 (voice)

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:
  • http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html
  • http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html

  • Back to Top